There is a text on my phone that says I am next in line so I look up to see if that means a moment or many.
I am sitting in a Verizon store because I need to have someone explain why upgrading multiple phones has led to an increase on my next bill of more than $100.
He explains to me the guy at Best Buy didn’t process things correctly and it doesn’t show any credit for the phones I am trading in.
“I switched to Verizon from T-Mobile around 15 years ago, in part because it was a better network but also because it cost more to speak with someone who was on Sprint. You guys gave us free minutes for being on the same network. None of that matters anymore, there is no benefit there.
My work phone is through AT&T. I have had it for years and used it all over the country so I am comfortable with the service. Can you do anything to help me out here? They are happy to provide incentives to bring me on board.”
Truth is after we walked through the current plan I am ok with staying on it for now because I think the monthly bill is about the same.
I’ll confirm and if I see a sizable savings I’ll switch providers but probably not without calling Verizon retention just to see if they want to match.
They Count On Inertia
Service providers count on inertia and or laziness to keep people from leaving. They count on people not wanting to take the time to make a change and some of them add to it by making it take a minute to change things up.
I am not daunted by making changes or afraid to mix things up…if motivated.
Motivation is based upon a cost analysis of how much I am going to save/benefit versus time/effort required to make a change.
If it is a minimal amount I may not do it because my days are busy and I prioritize my time on things that I deem most important.
But that is balanced on the financial and or benefits provided by making a change.
Add the beauty of the internet/email to the mix and the ease of research and I can generally figure out whether I want to make a change pretty quickly.
Also experience has shown that some service providers are quick to offer promotions and or other incentives to keep you from changing, all you have to do is ask.
The worst that happens is they say no. If you don’t shoot for the moon you won’t reach the stars and if you don’t ask you probably won’t get.
I’ll add the guiding principle here for me is to not be a schnorrer. That line is different for everyone and it is important to me that I abide by what feels right to me.
Epilogue
I heard another story again from someone who told me about how they had gotten one over on a car dealer. That is the kind of comment that always makes me roll my eyes.
It’s an ego thing that I never take seriously because the dealer is in business to make money and if they give cars away they aren’t going to stay solvent for long.
It is not something I argue with people about because it doesn’t make sense to discuss narishkeit.
You don’t know what the dealer got the car for, whether the manufacturer is offering special incentives or promotions to them to move a particular model etc.
The only question that is relevant, significant and important to me is how you feel about the deal. If you feel good about it, can afford your purchase and it serves you than you did well.
That is really where I come from with all of this stuff.
Do I believe I am receiving the full value of the service/product I am paying for? Do I think I am paying a fair price?
If the answer is yes and I don’t see evidence that I am being overcharged than I am usually pretty good.
But that doesn’t stop me from periodically doing some research, things change and sometimes I do too.
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